Fairytale?

Chapter 25- Everlasting Sliver of Silver

There is the faith that never fails,
The courage in the danger place,
The duty seen, and duty done,
The heart that yearns for all in need,
-

Caspian had a beard, and Edmund didn't know whether he wanted to shave it off in his sleep or mock him about it for the duration of the voyage on the Dawn Treader.

But he decided to do neither- instead, he asked impishly, "Do you think Peter would've tolerated beard-burn to kiss you?"

Caspian went pink. He'd given the young man his torch back, and even offered to hand Rhindon over to him- and this was how he was treated. Of course. He wondered how in the world his aunt tolerated him.
He wished Sanya was here. He wished Peter was here. He wished Edmund didn't make fun of him.
"As I was saying," the King went on, as though he wasn't the same shade as a cherry-blossom, "the countries are almost as prosperous as they had been in the Golden Age- and there's peace all over Narnia. In just three years."

"And-" Lucy was aware she had never sounded more like Edmund, all mischief and levity and gaiety she had thought she had lost in the Golden Age, "have you found yourself a consort in those three years?"

"No." Caspian was still pink, and he was smiling slightly as he looked down- but there was something sad in his expression. "None to compare with your brother."

Edmund had his torch back and he held a sword for the first time in two years later that afternoon, and he was so glad about it, he even let Caspian- not win, he wasn't that merciful- settle into a draw against him, their swords sweeping along each other in a stalemate.
So glad, in fact, that he hadn't even made faces when Eustace- the dreaded cousin had, dreadfully enough, made his way into Narnia, something that was dreadful for all three of them, in vastly different ways- had spoken about his 'acute disposition' and his 'intelligence'.
Alright, that was a lie. He had made faces. Just not ones that warranted having a spit-ball spat at his face.

But he wasn't glad for long.

The voyage wasn't a joy-ride; it was a mission, it had a purpose, and Caspian was Captain Ahab, searching for the elusive Moby Dick- in this case, instead of a naughty whale, it was seven long-lost Lords.

"But the Lone Islands have always been Narnia's!" Edmund said, as he pulled away the spyglass away from his face. He had been looking at the island in the distance- it seemed so quiet, so empty, but what was the most surprising was that there was not a single Narnian flag in sight.

"Seems suspicious." Drinian, the ship's captain, said, his face more worried than unimpressed, as it had been for the past couple of days that Edmund and Lucy and Eustace had been on the ship.

They absolutely had to go down and find out what was happening. It wasn't a rebellion Edmund was anxious about- it was that he feared something bad had happened to the people. Now that he was in Narnia- he would help them, like he'd ached to do for two years.
"I say we prepare a landing party."

To his- yet again- surprise, Drinian did not immediately nod and go to do as he'd said.
Instead, he hesitated, and looked at Caspian, who seemed even more solemn.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty... but the chain of command starts with King Caspian on this ship."

What?
Edmund felt like his brain went blank for a second, and all he could feel was dismay.
What?
The only reason Caspian was King was because he and his siblings had given their blessings, and because he was part of his wife's royal lineage!
Yet now he had the audacity to-
But before he could let that spark of anger grow, he pushed it down. He and Sanya and his siblings had left Narnia, entrusting its care to Caspian.
Caspian had ruled well, and was ruling well, and he had the right to be of highest rank on the ship.
"Right." The Just King said, trying to hide the dismay as well.